Strings for musical instruments



. April 28, 1964 J. MARTIN 3,130,626

' STRINGS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Dec. 5, 1962 l8 ||r,- r v I BY Z0 4 7/ ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,130,626 STRINGS FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS John L. Martin, New York, N.Y., assignor to Herco lrorilgucts, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Filed Dec. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 242,516 2 Claims. (Cl. 84-297) This invention relates to non-metallic strings for musical instruments.

Two types of musical instrument strings may be generally classified as core strings and plain strings. Core strings have cores wound or covered with wires, and plain strings are single strand strings which are uncovered. Various metals, gut and nylon are among the materials of which the cores of the core-wound strings and the single strand strings are made. Single strand nylon strings are used as treble strings for guitars. The bass strings for guitars are usually core-wound strings.

A custom has been to provide a small cylinder or spool of metal at one end of a bass string to anchor the string to the cross-piece of a guitar. A metal cylinder is at tached to a bass string by Winding the end of a wire string, or of the core of a core-wound string, as the case may be, around the cylinder and by Wrapping the wire or the core about itself along a length of the wire or of the core above the cylinder. This mode of attaching a string is unsuited for anchoring a single strand nylon string.

Accordingly, it has been a practice to mount and fasten a nylon string by wrapping it around a cross-piece of a musical instrument, such as a guitar, and effect a snubbing action by tucking the end of the string under one or more turns of the wrapping. The manipulation required to accomplish a secure tie to the cross-piece is time-consuming, and unless it is performed by an experienced person the tie eilected will slip under tension, with the result that the string will slacken and fail to maintain pitch.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a single strand non-metallic string which is adapted for mounting to the cross-piece of a musical instrument with a minimum of manipulation.

Another object is to provide a single strand string of nylon or of other material having the general mechanical characteristics of nylon, with an anchoring member at one end which is dependable for maintaining the string fixed to a cross-piece of a musical instrument.

According to the present invention, an anchor is provided for a single strand non-metallic string by means of a member which is positively attached to one end of the string as an integral part of the string. The member has a passageway into which the string extends. The passageway is forrned in a manner to provide an annular shoulder which is engaged by a knot in the string. The intertwined bends of the knot are bonded to each other by a hardened adhesive material which fills the cavity in that portion of the passageway surrounding the knot and bonds the knotted end of the string to the anchoring memher.

The string is mounted to the cross-piece of a guitar, for example, by threading the string through an opening in the cross-piece until the anchoring member is brought into engagement with the cross-piece. As a consequence it requires very little effort and practically no previous experience to properly mount the string on an instrument. The engaged anchoring member reacts against the crosspiece when the string is placed under tension.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from a detailed description of the same which consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a general view of a guitar;

FIG. 2 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of the bridge and a portion of the body of the guitar illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of FIG. 2 on a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a plan of a short length of the bridge on a still larger scale with a portion of the bridge broken away and also showing an anchoring member in section; and

FIG. 5 is a detail of a bead-like member as viewed from one end of a passageway therethrough.

The guitar 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided with three treble strings 11 (the first, second and third strings) and three bass strings 12 (the fourth, fifth and sixth strings). The bass strings 12 are of the Wound core type of string which has been referred to hereinabove. Each of the treble strings 11 consists of a single strand with anchoring means generally designated 13.

The bridge 14 is repreesntative of a type of bridge used on a classic or folk guitar. As shown, the bridge serves to secure the strings. It includes a bridge piece 15 and a crossbar 16 to which the strings are attached, but insofar as the present invention is concerned the crossbar need not be formed as an integral part of a bridge member to fulfill its purpose of providing a support for the fixed ends of the strings. In a guitar the bridge member is fixed to the body of the guitar and the crossbar provides a buttress for the anchoring means 13 whereby the tension in the respective strings is maintained. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, a hole 17 is provided in the crossbar 16 for each string. The hole is oversize with respect to the string to allow clearance about the string.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a bead-like member 18 of each anchoring means 13 is provided with a passageway therethrough in the form of a counterbore 19 which provides an annular shoulder 20 for engaging a knot 21 on the end of the string. The counterbored passageway 19 may be formed by boring holes of different diameters at opposite sides of a solid member or by providing a counterbored passageway when the member is moulded. One of the bores forming the passageway is of a diameter a little greater than the diameter of the strand to which the member 18 is affixed. The diameter of the larger bore is such as to accommodate the knotted portion of the strand. When the knot is formed in the strand it is drawn up tightly against the annular shoulder 20. The knot 21 is encased by an adhesive material 22 which, upon hardening, seals the knot and bonds the knot to the inner wall of the bore surrounding the knot. As a result the knotted end of the string is contained and locked in place within the member 18.

The material used for adhesively securing the knotted end of the string within the member 18 may consist of any lacquer or varnish compatible with the material of the member 18 and with the string.

While the member 18 may be fashioned in a variety of forms and composed of any suitable material which has sufiicient strength in the size and shape selected for withstanding stress due to the reaction of the member on the cross-piece when a particular string is tensioned to respond to a desired pitch, it is preferred to form the member from a synthetic organic resin or plastic compound. Any of the substances known as plastics and having dimensional stability, whether of the thermosetting or of the thermoplastic variety, and which can be moulded or cast, are suitable for forming the member 18. A satisfactory member has been produced by moulding polyethylene (poor mans nylon) into a substantially spherical member having a diameter of about of an inch, but other synthetic organic compounds, known as plastics and having mechanical characteristics approximating those of 3 polyethylene may be used. It is manifest that the shape and size of an anchoring member are variables affecting the selection of the material for the member 18. Among suitable materials are nylon, polystyrene, cellulose acetate plastic and methyl methacrylate plastic.

The member 18 and the lower end of the string may be dipped into a suitable quick-drying lacquer or dope to form a coating 23. The coating for the respective strings can be provided in difierent colors for identifying strings of different pitch.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to a preferred embodiment of the invention and that modifications and alterations may be made therein Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A single strand musical instrument string having a structurally rigid anchoring body integrally fixed to one end of the string for stabilizing the end of the string with respect to an abutting surface of a cross-bar on a guitar when the string is subjected to tension, said string consisting of a single strand of nylon with interlaced parts of the strand forming a knot at one end of the strand, said anchoring body comprising said knot, a bead made of a dimensionally stable synthetic resin material, said bead having a stepped passageway through the center of the bead, said passageway formed by a first bore through which said strand extends from one side of said bead and a second bore extending from said first bore to the other side of said bead, the knotted end of said strand including said knot and the portion of said strand extending to the end of the strand nearest said knot being wholly contained within the confines of said second bore, said second bore providing an annular shoulder at the juncture of said bores for restraining Withdrawal movement of the knotted end of the strand from said second bore, and a hardened adhesive material interfacially bonding the interlaced parts of the strand of said knot to one another and bonding said knot to said head, said adhesive material compatible with nylon and the resin material of said bead, said adhesive material filling the space in said second bore outside of said knot and about the end of the strand nearest the knot, said head together with said hardened adhesive material and the knotted end of the strand constituting a solid coalescent body on the anchoring end of the strand, and a continuous coating completely enveloping said body.

2. A single strand musical instrument string according to claim 1 wherein the resin material of said bead is polyethylene and the bead is shaped in the form of a sphere.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 674,618 Shaelfer May 21, 1901 2,205,144 Kaplan June 18, 1940 2,226,529 Austin Dec. 31, 1940 2,535,143 Kosrnis Dec. 26, 1950 

1. A SINGLE STRAND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STRING HAVING A STRUCTURALLY RIGID ANCHORING BODY INTEGRALLY FIXED TO ONE END OF THE STRING FOR STABLIZING THE END OF THE STRING WITH RESPECT TO AN ABUTTING SURFACE OF A CROSS-BAR ON A GUITAR WHEN THE STRING IS SUBJECTED TO TENSION, SAID STRING CONSISTING OF A SINGLE STRAND OF NYLON WITH INTERLACED PARTS OF THE STRAND FORMING A KNOT AT ONE END OF THE STRAND, SAID ANCHORING BODY COMPRISING SAID KNOT, A BEAD MADE OF A DIMENSIONALLY STABLE SYNTHETIC RESIN MATERIAL, SAID BEAD HAVING A STEPPED PASSAGEWAY THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE BEAD, SAID PASSAGEWAY FORMED BY A FIRST BORE THROUGH WHICH SAID STRAND EXTENDS FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID BEAD AND A SECOND BORE EXTENDING FROM SAID FIRST BORE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID BEAD, THE KNOTTED END OF SAID STRAND INCLUDING SAID KNOT AND THE PORTION OF SAID STRAND EXTENDING TO THE END OF THE STRAND NEAREST SAID KNOT BEING WHOLLY CONTAINED WITHIN THE CONFINES OF SAID SECOND BORE, SAID SECOND BORE PROVIDING AN ANNULAR SHOULDER AT THE JUNCTURE OF SAID BORES FOR RESTRAINING WITHDRAWAL MOVEMENT OF THE KNOTTED END OF THE STRAND FROM SAID SECOND BORE, AND A HARDENED ADHESIVE MATERIAL INTERFACIALLY BONDING THE INTERLACED PARTS OF THE STRAND OF SAID KNOT TO ONE ANOTHER AND BONDING SAID KNOT TO SAID BEAD, SAID ADHESIVE MATERIAL COMPATIBLE WITH NYLON AND THE RESIN MATERIAL OF SAID BEAD, SAID ADHESIVE MATERIAL FILLING THE SPACE IN SAID SECOND BORE OUTSIDE OF SAID KNOT AND ABOUT THE END OF THE STRAND NEAREST THE KNOT, SAID BEAD TOGETHER WITH SAID HARDENED ADHESIVE MATERIAL AND THE KNOTTED END OF THE STRAND CONSTITUTING A SOLID COALESCENT BODY ON THE ANCHORING END OF THE STRAND, AND A CONTINUOUS COATING COMPLETELY ENVELOPING SAID BODY. 